Mail-bag catcher



(No ModeL) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. Y

' J. E'. ROUTE.

MAIL BAG CATCHBR.

10.546,599, Pat-en ted sept.17,1895.

(No Model.) -ZISheets-'Sheet 2.

J.B.R0UTH. MAIL'BAG GATGHBR.

No. 545,599. Patented 'Sept'. 17, 1895.

`JOHN'E.WROUTH,'OF JEFFERSONVILLE, INDIANA;

MAIL-BAGCATCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 546,599, dated September 17, 1 895.

Application led August 15, 1894. `Serial No. 520,390. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern,.-

fersonville, in the county of Clark, and in the State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag Catchers 5 andIdo hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of a mail-bag catcher constructed in accordance with my invention. Figs. 2 and 3 are elevations from opposite ends, showing, respectively, the manner of deliveringa bag to and from a moving car; Fig. 4, a detail view of the bag-engaging 1 chain, and Fig. 5 a plan view of a different form of the bag-engaging arm or bar.

The design of my invention is to enable mail-bags to be delivered to and from a moving car in a positiveA manner and .without danger of breaking or otherwise injuring the contents of the bags or damaging the latter; and to this end said invention consists in the mail-bag catcher constructed substantially as and for the purpose hereinafter specified.

In the carrying of my invention into practice I employ two similarly-shaped bars A and A', that are placed, respectively,upon a suitable stationary support and upon a car. Such support of the former may be'a standard or upright B, that has its lower end anged and bolted to the ends of cross-ties, and at its upper end has a bar or arm b, that projects horizontally toward the track and to whose outer end the bar A is secured at its longitudinal center. The bar A is attached to and supported from the car by being mounted at its longitudinal center upon the outer end of a bar C, that at its inner end is secured to a sleeve c, which is placed upon a horizontal bar D, supported in the doorway of the car by having its ends within openings or sockets that are provided in plates d and d, which are bolted to the opposite sides of the door.

In connection with the bars A and A', I employ a bag-holding device, which consists ot' two rings or loops E and E, that are united edge` to edge, so as to be in the same plane, by means of a connecting-'piece F, having a suitably-shaped horizontal extension f, that i constitutes a saddle to engage the bar and Be 1t known thatI, J oHN E. RoUTH, of Jefsupport said rings upon the same with their axes in horizontal lines. The lower ring is provided with bag-engaging means, which preferably consist of a buckle g and chain G of the sprocket form, that may be passed around the middle of the bag, and thus support the same in a compact and well-balanced position, with one half depending on each side of the chain. The chain is fastened-at one end to an extension. of an eye g, that is secured tothe lowerring E, and its free end is adapted to be secured by a buckle g', that is also secured to an extension of said eye g. It will be observed that nothing has to be permanently applied to the bag for its use with my mechanism, and that the bag is supported at the point and in such way that the strains upon it from its weight, duc., can do no damage. Y

For a purpose to appear hereinafter the middle portion of each bar Aand A' is dropped to a lower plane than the end portions thereof to form bends or offsets a and a, while to enable the bar A to be moved into and ont 'of position and in a direction crosswise of the doorway the sleeve c is capable of being rocked upon and moved lengthwise of the rod D. The bar A is held in position for use (which position is above the bar A) by means ot' a chain or cord H, that has one end fastened to the car-ioor, and at its other a ring that may he readily slipped on and off of a handlever I, thatis attached to the sleeve c and projects into the ear for the easy and convenient manipulation ot` said bar A'.

The manner in which my mechanism is used is as follows: It mail is to be delivered to a moving car, the bag having been attached to the rings E, as described, said rings are suspended by the saddle f from the end of the stationary bar A, that points in the direction in which the car is moving. The upper of the two rings E is thus placed in the path of the moving bar A', and hence the latterwill pass through said ring, and the rin g being engaged by the bar C will,together with` the bag, be carried ott from the bar A. When mail is to be delivered from a car, the bag-holding rings are placed upon the rear end of the bar A', so that the lower ring will be in line with the IOO rearwardly-extending end of the stationary bar A, and being carried over the same will strike the horizontal bar b, and thereby be freed from said bar A. The bends or offsets a and a prevent the rings from rebounding off the bars A and A when they have struck bars l) and C, which cause their removal from said bars A and A. It will be apparent that Inail can be simultaneously.delivered to and from the car, and that several bags (according to the length of the bars) may be deliv ered at a time each way. To prevent suspended bags from being rocked or swayed by the wind the inner faces of the sides of the saddlesf are flattened and the side of the end portions of the bars A and A are likewise flattened for engagement by the saddle sides, while to supplement such construction a lat spring K is secured to the longitudinal center of each bar A and A,upon the upper side thereof, so that its ends extend in opposite directions slightly above the saddle-engaging ends of each bar, and are adapted to bear with sufficient pressure upon said saddles to effect the desired result. Instead of having the shape shown in Fig. l, the bar A may be given the form shown in Fig. et, where it is curved from each end inward toward the car in a horizontal plane. This shape of the bar A enables the bar C to be discarded, and results in the bag being carried in close to the car-door in position for easy removal, While the bending or curving is productive of the same results as to rebounding of the rings and bag as the bends or offsets a and a.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a mail bag-catcher, the combination, with two bars that are, respectively, mounted upon a car, and upon a relatively stationary support, a bag-holding device that has a part to engage either of the bars and has an opening above and below such part substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a mail bag catcher, the combination with two bars that are, respectively, mounted upon a car and upon a relatively stationary support, a bag holding device comprising two rings or loops connected together and a saddle to rest upon and engage a bar, substantially as and for the purpose shown.

3. As animprovement in mail bag catchers, the combination with two bars that are respectively mounted upon a car and upon a stationary support, and have each its middle portion bent, a bag holding device comprising two united rings or loops and a saddle to rest upon and engage either bar, and a bag engaging means attached to the lower ring or loop and adapted to be passed around the middle of the bag, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony that Iclaim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 3d day of August, 189i.

J OIIN E. ROUTII.

Witnesses:

J oHN II. STOTSENBURG, ANNA M. RICHARDS. 

